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Location: Approximately 50 miles from Missoula MT/38 yrs full time after 4 yrs part time
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Hey Elk........... Knowing that you've had your share of health situations over the years...........what comments (advice) have you got for an " ole Fogey" that has to have his Gall Bladder out.
Got the results today of a CT Scan; a Hida Scan and an Ultra sound that all indicate "I gotta get er out"!
I "passed a Gall stone last week" and they tell me there are two more still in there. Thank God the one that "passed" didn't get stuck in the bile duct--that could have been real trouble.........when you pass a stone, it ends up going on out into your digestive track.
Any way, I'm gonna have it done right after Thanksgiving. Doc says he'll save the two remaining stones for me and I can have one made into a "Gall Stone Ring"....kinda like my "Elk Tooth Ring"
Got any good jokes I can tell the nurses?................Ketch ya later!
Gall stone, huh? If I could back up a few years, I'm not sure I'd agree to have my gall stone out. hahaha It was the start of some major, major stuff.
I have a high tolerance for pain, so my gall bladder didn't give me much warning. Little pain here and there and finally I went to the doctor. They admitted me, did xrays and stuff. They put me in life flight and gave me a window seat on a trip to Billings. Surgeon up there said, "We're going to make a 2 inch incision, so you'll see that when you wake up." Woke up with a 21 inch incision, 37 staples, and tubes coming out of me. The doc came in and I pointed and said, "That was a huge gall bladder to cause that big of a hole."
Seems my gall bladder had been bad for so long, I had gangreine. They not only took my gall bladder, but 60% of my colon, 60% of my large intestine, and 40% of my small intestine all had to come out. I was one sick puppy.
Remember this. Nurses are your life support. All of those machines are just for show and to jack your bill up. It's actually the nurses that keep you going. Treat one badly and you will truely learn what hell on earth is. Be nice to the nurses and never argue. Arguements are for the doctor (not the surgeon though, just your regular doctor). hahahaha If a nurse says do this, you smile and say "Yes mam/sir." If a food service person asks you how supper was, you can scowl and say, "It tastes like crap." If a nurse asks you how supper was, you smile and say, "That was the best meal I've had in a long time."
Although wheelchair races, while you are still higher than a kite, are fun, the nurses will not be amused. Pinching the IV line shut so it sets off the alarm, just to get the nurse to fill your ice water, will not set well with the nurses. When they bring the menu around for the following days meals, DO NOT put a check mark next to each and every thing on the menu, just to see if they will bring it. They will. Again, the nurses will not be amused. Do not put X6 next to the checkmark by the ice cream. When the nurse is listening to your lungs and heart and she has her stethescope on your back, do not thump your chest with your finger to the tune of "Inna gotta diveda". While you think it is funny, the nurse will not be amused. Do not save your apple juice and then pour it in to your hand urinal. Wait til about 10 at night when they come in to take the last rounds of vitals and before they can grab the urinal to dump it, you grab it, pop the top and drink it down (Warning, only use a NEW hand urinal. Warning, double check to make sure it's a new hand urinal. Warning, do not attempt this while partially doped up and you are not sure if it's a new hand urinal). That nurses will not be amused. Then again, if you did that trick and accidentally used a used hand urinal, the nurse might be amused. When the nurse brings your pills around, she will intentionally give the wrong descriptions of the pills, just to see if you hord what she told you was a pain pill, and it was actually a laxitive or stool softener. She will be amused when you finally take the horded 4 or 5 pills.
Are you having it done locally, or are they going to farm you out?
I got a call this afternoon from the VA and they are setting me up with a consult in Billings to have surgery there soon. Hopefully they won't remember me from last time.
Ouch elk! My wife had hers taken out via laparoscopy a number of years ago. It was an outpatient procedure for her. In and out in a day. You went through hell!
My wife's symptoms started early in life, and attacks were getting more frequent especially after fatty meals. We started cutting down on things many years before actual removal, but now it's pretty strict. We rarely eat real fatty foods (no more braunschweiger, fatty pork or beef- things like that). Hard to process that type of thing now for her. Which is okay- we pretty much turned to eating venison, chicken, fish and more veggies as diet staples.
Thankfully, Griz won't experience anything like that. Like you say, it should be outpatient, in and out in the afternoon, but Griz being a young sprout, they may have to watch you overnight. Just long enough to get on the good or maybe bad side of the nurses. I can't stress enough that those nurses are terrific people and hold your life in the palm of their hands, more so than the doctors.
This will be the 9th year that I have taken a 9lb pan of fudge to the nurses station on Christmas morning. Well, I've done 8 so far, and God willing and the Creek don't rise, this year will be 9.
Don't take a book to read, the nurses won't leave you alone long enough to get any reading done.
By the way, the surgery I am setting up now will be the 4th surgery I've had as a result of that Gall Bladder snafu.
When my father had his out it was a situation similar to yours Elk, a real night mare so when I had mine out I was a little worried, but I got a good cutter and it was outpatient surgery, I was back on the street in just a few hours.
Believe me Griz, It is better to get it out!!!
When I ended up on the floor of the house, drenched in sweat and couldn't move for over an hour because of the pain, well the surgery was nothing compared to that, plus they have some GREAT painkillers in those hospitals
And Elk is correct on another point as well, my wife (the She-Bear) is a nurse and you couldn't find a better caretaker, but you do NOT want to get on her bad side either!!
You will do fine Griz, you're a tough old bear and should have no trouble.
The only thing I noticed as different after my surgery was I put on weight and couldn't keep it off so I had to go to a low carb diet to just maintain instead of gain.
Everybody is different, but I am sure you'll do just fine and be back making life difficult for the pheasants again in no time
I had horrendous pain before the removal, worse than childbirth in some ways. My question since I had my surgery in the 80's, is if they do it as an outpatient now, do they not also remove the appendix? My doc told me it was the same surgery, so they always remove both. Its gives me peace of mind knowing I wont have future problems.
The next day the nurse came in and plopped down a plastic lidded cup with my stones in it. I still have them, and they came in handy for someone getting ready to have the same surgery. They got a kick out of seeing them. Iirc, there's around six of them. Good luck OP and so sorry that happened to you Elk. Sounds like you'd be better off being a wimp like me and feel the pain.
Location: Approximately 50 miles from Missoula MT/38 yrs full time after 4 yrs part time
2,308 posts, read 4,115,307 times
Reputation: 5025
Quote:
Originally Posted by MTSilvertip
When my father had his out it was a situation similar to yours Elk, a real night mare so when I had mine out I was a little worried, but I got a good cutter and it was outpatient surgery, I was back on the street in just a few hours.
Believe me Griz, It is better to get it out!!!
When I ended up on the floor of the house, drenched in sweat and couldn't move for over an hour because of the pain, well the surgery was nothing compared to that, plus they have some GREAT painkillers in those hospitals
And Elk is correct on another point as well, my wife (the She-Bear) is a nurse and you couldn't find a better caretaker, but you do NOT want to get on her bad side either!!
You will do fine Griz, you're a tough old bear and should have no trouble.
The only thing I noticed as different after my surgery was I put on weight and couldn't keep it off so I had to go to a low carb diet to just maintain instead of gain.
Everybody is different, but I am sure you'll do just fine and be back making life difficult for the pheasants again in no time
......Hey "Tip".......
Thanks to you, Elk (and the other folks that responded) , That first "attack" was a real surprise.......it occurred at 3am in the morning.......the pain woke me up and really didn't have any idea what could be causing it, plus I really felt "lousy" in general. (Hell, I didn't know Gall Bladder could "go-to-hell" at my age.) When it was still painful at 6am, I got to the bathroom, took a shower, fed the dog, and drove the 12 miles to the hospital. (My doctors office is in the hospital
so I was able to find his nurse and she worked me in as his first patient.) They immediately ran a bunch of blood tests & as soon as he got the results he scheduled me for a 1 pm CT Scan. Got back home about 5 pm and 10 minutes later got a call from his nurse who said definitely is the gall bladder........I had passed one stone during the 3am to 6am period and two more remain in the Gall Bladder.
Was then scheduled for a "Hida Scan" ( nuclear medicine test at St. Pat's in Missoula) for two days later (had to get to St. Pat's in Missoula by 7:30am---meant I had to get up at 5:30am. Fed the dog at 6:30 am just as I left home, put him in the travel crate in the SUV and off we went for the 49 mile drive to Missoula. Walked him in the parking lot for 3 minutes---he did his business--put him back in the crate (thank God) he's good for 8 hours in the crate. Got the results of that test at 3;15pm & then drove home. Another phone call the next morning.....yea, all blood work and both tests indicate I "gotta get er out"!!
The highly recommended surgeon to "do-the-deed" is down in Haiti doing volunteer work with that organization: Doctors Without Boarders and will be back end of this week. I'm scheduled to meet with him a week from tomorrow (Tuesday) for discussion and schedule me ASAP for the surgery.
I know that it is a common surgery and 95% of the time it can be done Orthoscopicly (SP?) ..........HOWEVER, I naturally have some reservations related to:...1/ my age (81.6); 2/ living alone 12 miles out of town;...3/ a leaking Aortic Heart Valve & 4/ Mild COPD.
I'm going to request that I stay overnight that first night in the hospital, instead of the usual "in and out the same day".
Sorry to be such a "blabber mouth"..... Just an "old Candy-Ass" I guess.
Ketch ya later.
Forget to mention: Last Wednesday had (40) elk around the place for about 4 hours..........As we all know------once you "pull-the-trigger/then the work begins". did get several pics on the camera.......Someday I'll learn how to get 'em into this laptop and be able to attach them to these posts...........Just a "dumb-bunny" I guess.
Last edited by Montana Griz; 11-19-2013 at 12:35 AM..
Reason: Added info on the elk in yard
I am sure you will do fine Griz. The sawbones are pretty good these days, I would take some of them I know hunting as they are handy as hell with a knife!
The docs said my gall bladder looked like a "bag full of marbles" when they took it out. I had had pain and problems since 1987, but couldn't find a doctor that could figure out what the problem was until 2001, so I lived with the pain for a lot of years.
You're lucky you had some competent doctors that could identify it, I had everything from "spastic colon" to "gasteric interitis", I don't reccomend the doctors in Livingston
Once it was out, I was back at work for a half day the next day, and never looked back. If they can do it laproscopically, it is a pretty mild operation. Heck, I didn't even need the pain pills after the first day!
Your surgery will be more complex than mine no doubt with your other issues, but I have full faith you will pull through fine
I'm glad you can find elk, the game check stations around here are saying the harvest is 10 - 15% of normal. I have hunted my hindquarters off and have only seen a few cows and calves.
Did manage a nice whitetail doe on Sunday, but drove 230 miles between block management areas that day.
Drive to a spot, sign in, walk it, get back in the truck onto the next one, repeat ad infinitum until I finally connected at 4:05 PM. I sure earned that deer.
Anyway, all the best to you and keep us informed. If you need something, you can PM me and I would be happy to do what I can.
You'll do fine, I have faith in you. Good idea about staying overnight. I always am concerned about living so far from town, myself. This morning, at 5:15 when I got up, I couldn't get a cell signal. Kept trying it until 8:30 and could finally call out. I didn't even have 911 capability, so I called them up and expressed my concern that if that was a "Scheduled Maintenance", they should notify customers so they can make other arrangements.
I know that where you live you are rather remote, so staying overnight, just to make sure, is a good idea.
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?................Ketch ya later!
